An Earthquake In Idaho

I  have lived in Idaho all my life.

I have never experienced an earthquake…until last week.

I was taking a nap as I didn’t feel 100% and have not been sleeping well.  A loud noise outside woke me and I was having a difficult time figuring out what it was.  Both Kenyon and I were upstairs and the house started to shake.  Like really shake.  I thought, “boy that is quite the storm brewing outside” but the shaking didn’t stop.  I yelled out to Kenyon, who was in his computer room, “is this an earthquake?”  He came into the bedroom telling me he thought so.

If the shaking had not stopped, I was ready to jump out of bed and get to the door jam.  After all, that is what they teach you in school.  Get under your desk or get to the entry of a door.  Thankfully, it didn’t get that far and the shaking stopped.

I reached for my work phone but didn’t have any message that what we encountered was possibly an earthquake.  An earthquake in Idaho.  Kenyon was working from home and still on-the-clock.  When he got back to the computer room, a message had been sent that it was, in fact, an earthquake.

Wow. 

An earthquake in Idaho.

The actual quake was a 6.5 magnitude and was several miles away.  I can’t even imagine what those felt closer felt.  Luckily, there was not damages reported.

My work phone went off.  There was now a text message asking for coverage at work.  They needed one for sure and additional on standby in case we had aftershocks.  I jumped out of bed and raced to get ready.  Then, I remembered Kenyon was at home.  I have been trained to respond in the event of an emergency.  I think to myself all the time what I would do or how I would handle a large catastrophe like you see in the movies.  This is my job.  I am a police dispatcher.  I am there to help people.

But, to rush into work would mean leaving my husband and not knowing his safety while I was helping others in need.  I asked Kenyon if she was okay with me responding to work, which ended up just being stand-by.  This was an experience I will always remember.  Considering we ended March 2020, the weirdest month due to COVID-19, with an earthquake is quite fitting.

April, we are happy to see you.